To Bend Not To Break
by TheWriter3410
Summary: Natalia Klitschko is a lawyer who one year out of law school got hired exclusively by one of the biggest russian business empires. She wasn't after a big break like this, she wanted to help people but after a traumatic heart break that changed her forever she decided to accept the offer. A couple of years later the young fixer finds herself back in New York, the city she left.
1. PROLOGUE

_PROLOGUE_

"I have a meeting in Zurich in five hours Viktor, it takes three maybe four hours to fly from Moscow to Zurich so I don't really have time for this." The raven haired woman said as she put her coat on, her tone wasn't stressed or harassed it was matter of fact - her usual tone.

"Natalia you forget I am your employer, you can't speak to me like that. So I suggest next to you get too comfortable up on your pedestal you remember who signs your cheques." The russian man bellowed as he slammed his hand on the table, trying to intimidate the woman standing before him.

"Viktor if you want to go ahead and find yourself a new lawyer by all means go ahead but I can guarantee you aren't going to find anyone with my skill and capability." She paused leaning against the chair with her files in hand, waiting to see if this was the moment she was to be let go by her boss.

Viktor looked at the small woman, he was trying to bluff her out but he knew she wouldn't cave in but he couldn't back down now, "If you think you are so special leave, leave and never come back but you know I have the power to ruin you." He took steps towards the woman, leaning over her as he puffed out his chest. Intimidating her should be easy Natalia was a mere five foot and no more than five-eight with her heels on whilst Viktor was the stereotype for russian, he was tall enough to be part of the skyline at a huge six-six.

"Oh Viktor- you forget it is me who has saved you on numerous occasions, not only you but your company, your family, your friends. Don't hire a fixer who knows how to work the rules so that you don't break any, don't hire someone who you can't dig shit up on and certainly do not exclusively hire the best god damn lawyer that money can buy only for you to have a temper tantrum every time she doesn't have time to pretend to listen to you trying to impress her with some bullshit story because she has to fly across the content to save your sons ass legally and corporately." Natalia was the type of woman who didn't need to shout, or try to intimidate someone because she knew she was the best and when you become the best it means you need to be ballsy so she wasn't going to be scared off by some old mans temper tantrum.

"You should learn to remember who the boss is around here, you are treading a fine line here. Make sure you don't cross it because as you said you are the best and I'd hate to see you ruined simply because you had to be reminded who was in charge." Viktor straightened up his suit and backed off of Natalia.

"She picked up her bag and headed for the grande oak door, just before shutting it she paused and said," Don't get too comfortable with that title Viktor, it's nothing more than status. A status that I got for you so next time you try to warn me about the line remember that. Oh and next time you try to scare munger me into anything try a little better because you aren't at all intimidating. I've seen bigger and badder men Viktor and even they don't scare me." With that she left the room and the building, having her driver take her to the airport.

The journey in the car to the airport was a regular one, when you exclusively become the lawyer for the Russian Chmekovsky family and business empire traveling becomes casual. Natalia arrived at the airport and was through security in no time, she was powerful and a regular- security hardly even noticed you at that point. She was seated on the private jet with her laptop out working away on paperwork for various different happenings.

She felt her phone begin to vibrate, picking it up she seen it was an incoming call from victor. She sighed inwardly and pressed accept knowing it must be pretty important for him to be calling her during her flight

"Viktor." She said sharply, just like she did all the time answering her calls.

"I'm having an issue. I have a series of big deals going down in New York and I'm getting the feeling they are going to do exactly that, go down." She could detect the stress in his voice

"What do you mean a series of big deals? You haven't told me anything about these deals, you haven't had me look over any contracts at all. Viktor what have you been keeping from me?" Natalia couldn't believe it, her dipshit of a boss was trying to close deals without her.

"It's a couple of big money deals I've been working on, they are in the states so I didn't bother you with them. I've got the best lawyer in the city working on them, I'm getting cold feet now, I've got a gut feeling that something isn't going to work out-"

"Send me everything you have on the cases. I want all files, emails even the call logs. If they've had a coffee while working on your cases I want to god damn know about it. Tell Irina to start sending it through and have her call your hot shot lawyer and let them know I'm flying over." She was furious, if you want something done right you need to do it yourself.

"You can't just up and leave, I have things that need to be done here. You don't call the shots I do." She could tell Viktor was pissed with how she had spoke to him.

"I have everything sorted in europe, Irina and the others can take care of the smaller issues, I can work from New York and still know what's going on. You pay me to be the best and that's what I am so let me do my job. Now if you excuse me I have work to be getting back to." She hung up and exhaled slowly, soothing herself. The man infuriated her. She had proven to him time and time again that she was capable of taking on all of his cases, she was exclusively his lawyer for a reason. He had hired her only a year out of harvard, she was a young graduate and she knew it was a risk to take but Natalia was confident within herself that she could pull it off. She graduated from Harvard at the age of twenty three, given Natalia had what doctors and surgeons could only describe as photographic memory she had easily surpassed school and university with ease and years ahead of her classmates.

Her first year out of Harvard was spent between helping out in pro-bono cases and working as an associate for a small law firm branch that mainly dealt with european business men, who were often dabbling in illegitimate business affairs. Natalia amazed her employers with her strong ability in the language department and her sharp eye and intelligence in letting these men get what they want but doing it all legally. She knew her stuff and knew how to make the law work for her. It didn't take her long to learn she had only originally been hired because she was small and pretty, men thought they could bully her and scare her but the reason she stayed hired was because she was tough and knew what she was doing.

During her first year out she met an older man who she knew she was connected with, they made one and other blossom- with this love interest Natalia found herself in the happiest state she had ever been in, after all the loss and suffering in her life she was happy and content. Both being complete workaholics they kept their relationship on the down-low and didn't involve anyone else. When they went for meals it was just them, no meeting one and others friends in bars for drinks or double dating. That suited Natalia as she didn't have many friends, she often found herself too wary to befriend many people. Sure enough though reality had to strike Natalia another hard blow and she had her heart broken as the love of her life left her for a former flame so when Natalia got the offer to become Viktor Chmekovsky's exclusive lawyer she jumped at the chance. This was something she needed, she would see the world, achieve so much and make enough money so she wouldn't need to worry.

It was four years later and she had managed to achieve all three but her employer was growing bolder, wanting to try riskier business deals. Natalia knew how to bend the law but she had spent too much time and effort in being a morally right person and building principles that meant something just for Viktor to ruin it all. She knew she didn't want to work for him forever and when she announced she would be leaving he wouldn't be happy so she couldn't get involve in anything illegal otherwise he would drag her name through the dirt.

Upon arriving in Zurich Natalia phoned Viktor and informed him that she was meeting his son and then going to clean up his mess and that she would start reading through all the information on the American cases tonight.

Sitting in the car she looked out the window and looked at the people that she passed, she often wondered what type of lawyer she would have ended up being if she hadn't taken the offer, would she have caved and become a dirty lawyer or would she have maybe even quit law all together - she was good with numbers and people maybe she would have started working at an accounts firm or become a translator. Regardless of what job she had she always wondered if she would be happier than what she was now. Sure having the money and power was great but she didn't have anyone to share her success with, not even a friend. She didn't even have her family as her siblings had cut contact when she left for Russia, they had felt betrayed by their sister believing she was leaving them all behind but she had only ever aimed high for them. Soon enough she stopped keeping tabs on them because it hurt more to see and unable to control rather than just not know.

That's what made Natalia such a good fixer-lawyer, she relished having control. It wasn't that she was power hungry because she didn't user her control to be powerful she simply liked control through her distrust with people. After coming across so many liars in her career she had reason enough not to trust people and the one time she did trust someone it was thrown back in her face. As hurtful as that lesson was it was one that she learned from and she learned from it well. It helped her become the lawyer she was today. She knew that just because someone seems casual and charming with you doesn't mean they are, she learned how to make someone feel like they could trust without needing to trust them. It taught her about the real world and how that at the end of the day in her career everything was just business and you could never take it personal.

The driver brought the car to a stop and she knew her time for reflection was over. She had to meet with the undeniably innocent and naive Maxim Chmekovsky and hopefully try and teach him that very lesson, for some reason she didn't think he would understand. Not all of us are cut out for the world of business and law and maybe Maxim was one of those people, he was too optimistic and intrinsically good in Natalia's eyes whereas Viktor seen him as the heir to his empire. Natalia would need to teach this boy the lesson soon before her caused another, bigger mess. It was a shame his father wouldn't accept his son for what he was instead of trying to make him something else, she pitied the young man that was about to enter the car.

"Natalia, long time no see." He greeted sliding in to sit next to her.

"In our case Maxim the longer I don't see you the better. It means you haven't made a mess." She said looking him dead in the eyes.

"You know Natalia I really believed this girl, she seemed so genuine. I thought she could have been the one but-" Natalia couldn't listen to anymore of this.

"But she wasn't. She played you just like they all do and you need to learn a little bit of distance from these girls. One day you are going to make a mess so god damn big that none of us can clean up that leaves you free from consequence, I'm telling you this for your own good. You need to learn that business is business. Never mix it with pleasure because it only gets messy from there. Learn to differ the boundaries of business and your personal life and you better do it quick Maxim. I mean it."

The young man simply nodded and stared at Natalia drinking in her appearance. He knew he wasn't cut out for this but he didn't know how to tell his father and plus he couldn't deny he didn't enjoy his encounters with the beauty seated beside him. He didn't know how she still seemed oblivious to his ever growing feelings towards her. He tried to drop hints but she just never picked them up. Even these girls he fell in and out of love with couldn't compare to Natalia.

The car pulled up at the grande building, turning too look at Maxim she could see the shame and embarrassment in his eyes, she had seen it many a time before. Still none the less she looked into his eyes and the nervous teenager he was the first day she had met him and for that she felt bad for dishing out tough love to him.

Natalia sighed outwards, "Don't worry Maxy I'll sort this. Just you stay quiet, if they ask you anything say 'no comment'." Calling him by his nickname gave him ease, so she hoped. She couldn't have him nervous and panicked going in, he might crack and ruin everything. He had to be like her: calm and collected at all times.


	2. CHAPTER 1: ZAINA

**Authors Note:**

 **Hi guys :) I really hope you stay with me for the long haul in this because I know some of you might think I write a slow moving story but it's only just the beginning, I swear you'll get more drama.**

 **I would love to hear your opinions on it all, reviews will be cherished because I'm writing this for you and I want you to enjoy it. A heads up, my storyline may differ from the TV show but I'll try and keep it close because I understand it is the show that you guys have fallen in love with, not just the characters.**

 **If you are reading this and have any ideas thinking it would be great if this or that happened let me know because I want this to be the best it can be and I'll only know if I'm achieving that through your feed back, so really guys don't be shy and come forward with your thoughts/ideas.**

 **Thanks**

 **The Writer.**

 _CHAPTER 1: ZAINA_

She found she was already mid-way through the bottle of overly expensive malt whiskey, it was a recurring situation: sitting in some new hotel suite that screams out just how expensive it is; reading over mountains of papers looking for facts and evidence from call logs to depositions; sipping away at a specific single malt scottish whiskey - she never used to like it but it grew on her and became comforting, it was possibly the only thing that stayed the same in her ever changing surroundings.

Sighing she looked at her watch, it was just passed twelve and her flight was at five, she knew she needed the sleep and would have plenty of time to go over her files tomorrow during her eight hour flight. That would be more than enough time for her to get a fair idea as to was going on. Her body was craving the sleep but her mind decided it was time to buzz itself wide awake. She couldn't stop thinking about the cases because she knew something wasn't right with them, it all seemed too clean cut, nothing to pick up on. It was too smooth to just be like that, somebody was cleaning up after themselves and covering their tracks. She could play inspector in the morning but the now it was time for sleep. And sleep is what she found as her mind became too sedated from the liquor she had been drinking and so stopped fighting.

Knowing her car would be arriving soon she decided to leave the hotel room and wait down in the lobby, maybe pick up a coffee. As she put on her coat she checked her appearance in the full length mirror. She was wearing a camel coloured pencil skirt with a slit pushing up her leg along with a light white blouse, she looked at herself for a moment longer before leaving the room with her bag in hand.

The elevator pinged open and she admired the stillness of the hotel and the streets outside, this was the time that Natalia liked. She liked when the world was still sleeping, it made her feel like anything was possible. She handed her key card over to the man at the front desk and checked out, he informed her that her car was awaiting outside and that her small amount of luggage had been loaded into it already. She thanked the man and left the hotel trying to mentally prep herself for the day ahead.

Sitting on the jet she was wondering why they weren't prepping to take off when in waltzed Maxim, Natalia was thoroughly shocked at this but none the less held her composure. The young russian sat down across from her and smiled that endearing smile of his, Natalia in that moment knew how she felt about the young man- she felt like a mother hen around him upon seeing the lack of love in his home she felt that at times she tried to compensate that and so Natalia grew close with Maxim. She knew that although he wasn't business minded he was kind and compassionate and that although he was clueless when it came to closing deals and so forth he was amazing with computers and could quite literally pull anything and everything apart and know how to assemble it together. She recalled her first case with the family had been that Maxim had some how managed to hack into government official accounts and documents - he done this trying to show his skill but never believing his idea would turn out to be right. Natalia managed to save his ass and thats when they grew close- she was aware at the time that he had a crush on her, she was twenty four and he was only seventeen; she thought it was cute.

"Didn't think I was coming with you eh?" The humour was dancing in his eyes because he knew this surprise would annoy Natalia, she didn't like not knowing.

"No I never Maxy, are you happy now ? You surprised me." She huffed never taking her eyes from the paper in front of her.

"I am very happy and proud of myself actually. However you don't seem all too pleased about this. Have I done something wrong ? Are you mad about yesterday ?" He was beginning to second guess his idea and was rambling.

"I'm not mad at you, you should know by now I'm professional- yesterday was business that's all it was. I just have lots of work to get through before landing that's all and I can't afford the distractions that's all. I'm sorry if I came off harsh." Hearing him flounder always made Natalia feel bad.

"Oh ok, along as I haven't done anything wrong." He still sounded off, as if he had just been given into trouble.

"No don't worry Maxy. However you might want to move seats and get a good sleep in, by the time we arrive there it will be seven in the morning and so you'll have an entire day ahead of you." She felt bad dismissing him like this but she was in dire need of the time if she wanted to get through all of these files before arriving in New York.

There were only two hours left in the flight and Maxim appeared again, claiming he was all slept out, too wide awake to even contemplate sleeping. She needed to get him to do something, something to keep him busy and to make him feel like he was useful- she knew the only reason Viktor allowed Maxim to tag along was to piss Natalia off, when Maxim went with her she knew she was on babysitting duty. This wasn't what she needed, not when she knew shit was going to hit that fan at some point with these cases. Then it dawned on her, Maxim could help her, he knew computers and she needed access to the books of notorious crime families to see how they balanced out - looking at the books of the companies her boss was trying to close deals with looked odd, she had a gut feeling something didn't add up. She felt like she had seen them before, and she might have have seen the same pattern before.

"Maxy I need your help with something."

"Really? What is it?" His face lit up when she said this.

"I need you to get on that laptop of yours and get me access the Podolski, Rolinsky and De'Angelo books, sweet talk your way to getting them I don't care but I need them to figure this out." With that said he was away working his computer magic. Soon enough he had the copies and showed them to Natalia, skimming them all it dawned on her - they were hiding money. She knew she had seen this done before they were copying a system to lose money, why where the losing money though ? She knew she had to dig deeper on this.

She couldn't have her boss getting into bed with shady companies like this, she would need to follow the paper trail and find out where this money was going. She had kept a clean sheet for her boss for this long she wasn't about to ruin that now. Putting her things back into their folders and into her bags she looked at Maxim, "Thank you, I owe you one for that."

"I'll be sure to cash that in at some point, don't worry." He smirked with mischief dancing in his eyes.

She sighed as she shook her head as she continued to be baffled by the young man that was a constant juxtaposition unto himself. None the less she adored him who heartedly at his constant optimism in achieving his fathers dreams for her, never once did his hope falter when he failed time and time again.

Finally the jet began to descend and Natalia had to breathe deeply into herself and calm her inner storm of feelings about returning to the city. She had grown up living in this city the only time she moved out of it was when she went to harvard or when she spent many of her summers over seas with family. She liked that in the city you knew you were never alone, you could feel lonely but if you wanted to be in company you could always find someone; the diversity made her flourish, she was the outcome of many diverse cultures so she could relate; most of all though New York never stopped, it never slept - something was always happening and that was something she loved. But with the pros came the cons, it was like that all she loved about the city had been tainted from the pain that this city gave her. Memories of her dysfunctional family broke her heart time and time again as did thoughts of the man she loved but lost to another woman. The city that made her broke her too, so many places were ruined and tainted for she had shared them with her former flame and knew that going back to them would only make her suffer and why should she suffer? She wasn't the one who had betrayed her trust and love and most of all her heart but she had betrayed her mind - it had told her no but she disregarded it anyway because she gave herself up to love, willing falling into it.

That was the thing that Natalia had learned about falling in love. People think falling love is scary but it's not. Falling in love is fun and fast and its exhilarating, it doesn't happen slowly- it happens all so suddenly just like falling. When fall you aren't in control and that's what it's all about. Falling in love from her experience is the most magical, beautiful thing you wish for and so amazing that it changes you. It's when you are done falling in love that it all get's a bit scary: you hope someone is there to catch you but what if nobody is their to catch you ? We all want someone to catch us but if they don't then we hurt, hurt in such a fashion that we feel we are beyond repair. In the end you need to accept that you took the choice to take the plunge of falling in love you weren't caught, in her eyes she seen too options: live everyday in the pain of landing; or learn from it all and move on with life. Natalia chose the latter because she believed the pain of landing was worth the fall all the beautiful moments that gave her something good to hold on to and the pain of landing motivated her enough to push herself out of her comfort zone and go and experience her life. It shaped her and made her the successful woman she was so if you ask her ' is free falling into the a great dark void of the unknown world of love and landing on the cold hard ground breaking your heart worth it ' she would say yes without a second doubt.

That being said she hadn't prepared herself for returning to New York and knew that this turn in her life would be unpredictable and that scared her a great deal.

"Natalia are you ok ?" Maxim snapped her out of day dream.

"Oh yes yes of course, just contemplating variable situations in the cases." Again her tone was business like.

"Oh, ok then," He sounded taken aback by her response, he knew she was lying and he was hoping she would open up to him," Anyway are you wanting to be dropped at the hotel or Pearson Specters ?"

The name caught her off guard,"Pearson and who sorry?"

"Specter, you know the lawyers my dad has for over here." He didn't get her dazed attitude.

"Oh the firm, yes of course. Sorry I was just having a moment, you know what I'm like." Natalia tired to laugh it off but Maxim didn't buy it, her knew she didn't have 'moments'.

"We all have them, so what do you want ? Where do you want dropped ?" He pressed.

"I think I'll go to the hotel, freshen up and get a coffee and be on my way, its only gone by seven." She made sure to be back to her formal manners.

Making their way out of the airport Natalia was surprised to find that they were greeted by paparazzi, as always though they were quickly surrounded by security pushing the photographers away. She shook her head, of course the paparazzi would be waiting for them, Maxim was here - the heir to billions of dollars and billions of dollars in businesses, he was an eligible, socialite, bachelor, of course they would be waiting for his arrival.

Pulling up the hotel the same procedure followed again, another reason why Natalia hated travelling with her employers, the attention was very inconvenient for her. Getting the elevator up to their separate suits Natalia was quick out the elevator reminding maxim to contact her if he was going out so she could keep an eye on him.

Silence. Nothing but silence, as much as she loved the buzz of the giant city she appreciated the silence of her suite. It's just what she needed. She dumped her coat and bag and kicked her shoes off and lounged on the giant bed. She felt like she would drown in the bed it was that big. Her eyes began to droop lying in the bed, she knew all that reading would tire her eyes. With one last stretch in the bed she stood up and made her way to the toilet, a shower and a cup of coffee would wake her up no bother.

As the water hit her tanned skin she could feel how tense her muscles were, they were rock hard and stiff - she really needed to relax. How was she going to do that ? She was going to immerse herself in the case so she can become consumed by her emotions. It was as if within making that promise to herself a great weight was lifted off of her shoulder, she could feel her muscles beginning to relax

The cold air in the toilet hit her as she stepped out of the shower and so dried and dressed herself quickly, putting on the same outfit as before and touching up her make-up. She felt like a human again, alive and ready to take on the world. She checked her phone to see an email from Irina informing her she had contacted Pearson Specter letting them know she would be arriving to follow these cases, simply seeing that name sent her heart racing. She silently thanked Irina, that girl was a gem.

She left the hotel and picked a coffee up on the way, after waiting in the coffee shop for so long it was nearing nine. The coffee gave Natalia life and she felt her entire body warm drinking it, she didn't want to rush drinking it so she told the driver to go slow. She hadn't rushed in the coffee shop because it was the first time in years she had heard the American accent in full flight and she had missed it. She had grown used to meetings in russian and spanish or french or some other european language. She relished the feel the american voices gave her, it was a warm feeling, a feeling of home.

When her coffee finished it meant the car ride had to and so Natalia reluctantly stepped out of the mercedes-benz and headed towards the sky scraper in front of her. One part of her was petrified beyond belief whereas the other part was buzzing with nerves and excitement- she hoped not to face him but she also craved him. After a moment to gain her composure she took a deep breathe and walked into the building and headed for the giant desk.

"Hi there." She opened flashing the guy a smile.

"Good morning Miss, what can I do for you today?" The man said smiling up at her.

"I'm here on behalf of Viktor Chmekovsky, my name is Natalia Klitschko, I'm pretty sure my associate contacted you to let you know I would be on my way."

"Oh Ms Klitschko- I've been given the job to escort you up to the forty-sixth floor where I will be leaving you in the more than capable hands of , I hope that's alright with you?" The young man was very attentive.

"Oh please Ms Klitschko was my grandmother, Natalia will suffice." Her lack of formality embarrassed the young man making him giddy. Small talk was made in the lift but she could tell she intimidated him, yes she was capable but she didn't want innocent people being scared of her.

"Well Natalia, it would appear this is your stop" With that the lift dinged open.

"Thank you Jacob, it was a pleasure I must admit."

"Jac-jacob ? How did you know ?" He was flustered by all accounts.

"Because Jacob, I know what's what - I always do. remember that" She smiled peaking over her sunglasses at him as she exited the elevator, giving him her all knowing smile. She took in her surroundings and could tell that this law firm was powerful, it gave her a little faith that Viktor had chosen wisely.

"Miss Klitschko ?" A young brunette asked warily, almost stuttering.

"Please call me Natalia, you must be ." She took her sunglasses off and shook the womanise hand smiling at her.

"Well Natalia welcome to Pearson Specter, I'm Rachel and I'll be taking you to meet our two name Partners: Jessica Pearson and Harvey Specter." Natalia tried not to falter at hearing that name, following Rachel along the corridor she nodded and laughed as Rachel told her how much she had heard about her, Natalia was humble and modest and so always accepted such compliments with grace but reminded Rachel it was all just down to hard work, that was they key to it all.

As they made their way into Jessica's office Natalia looked at the woman and could instinctively tell that she would like her, she was respectable and worked hard to get where she was - being a black woman in such a position of power was impressive, she respected her for it.

"Jessica this is Natalia Klitschko, 's lawyer." Rachel introduced and walked out of the office. Natalia could feel the eyes of what felt like the entire office on them, watching the encounter like to great lionesses meeting for the first time - would they both try to dominate or join forces.

"What can I do for you?" Jessica enquired standing up from her desk, Natalia culled tell straight away that Jessica didn't welcome her with open arms, the standing up was and act of dominance.

"Natalia, call me Natalia, please. I am here simply to give my employer peace of mind, nothing more and nothing less." She knew she had to be peaceful in this, this wasn't her territory - she was a guest and knew she had to be careful not step on toes.

"Well then Natalia what do you mean peace of mind ? Do you doubt the capability of my firm?" Jessica walked towards her crossing in front of her desk and leaning against it.

" I would never insult you in such a way. My employer hired me exclusively, he exclusively hired a lawyer to build a relationship of trust, he knows where I stand. However he only knows of you and reputations - to which I'm sure you both deserve but works strongly with trust and he has no reason to trust you." She continued to take a diplomatic stance, working on a case with these people would be ten times easier if she was allies not enemies with them.

"He should trust us because he can see the fine work we showcase, what reasons does he had not to trust us? We are professional and clean." The hostility radiating of this woman was immense.

"Better safe than sorry, don't you think ? I'm not here to step on toes or to take control simply to assure my boss that all is well. Being so professional you must understand it isn't personal, it is simply just business. I'm sure a woman of your caliber must understand that." Natalia was trying to flatter her, she wasn't here for a war with her.

"Yes I do. Donna will take you to Harveys office, he has been dealing with your cases. A little reassurance- he is the best closer in the city, his clients trust him." She was sharp and bitter.

"I'm sure I will too." She nodded giving her a submissive smile and leaving the office. Outside of the office was a beautiful redhead to met her.

"I'm Donna, Harveys secretary, I'll take you to his office. Working with him means you will be working with me too." She smiled in a chipper way but her beauty beyond belief didn't fool me, I could recognise that look in her eye: it was a look that said I have eyes and ears everywhere, I know what happens and I'll know all about you. It was a look I gave many people.

Walking ahead of Natalia Donna could feel the power radiating off this woman, she was young but powerful, looking at her work it looked like she knew her craft better than anyone she knew - she might even be better than Harvey. This intimidated her, what if they both clashed who would outrank who ? Who would be the best ? What worried Donna more was she was trying to find out about the young woman but she was getting next to nothing on her. All she knew was that one year after obtaining a degree from a law school she was hired by this Russian business man, it all seemed a little fish to her. In short Donna didn't trust her.

"Well this is his office, just head in. If you need anything I'll be here and I'll see what I can do for you." Donna was curt with Natalia, and directed her into the office.

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind." She smiled to the woman and pushed the glass door open.

Her nerves began bouncing around inside of her as she waltzed into the office, how would he respond to her. Would he acknowledge her for what they had had. She stood in front of his desk waiting for him to notice her. It was like he had hardly notice her enter the room, he didn't pull his eyes from the documents on his desk that he was reading, he was immersed in his work.

She didn't want to just stand there awkwardly so she announced her presence, "Harvey."

His head shot up and he looked stunned for a moment, a bit like a dear caught in the headlights,"Zaina." He didn't say it so much, it was more of breathing the way it fell from his lips, almost as if it was instinctive and he couldn't help it.

Zaina.


	3. CHAPTER 2: MEETINGS AT UNHOLY HOURS

**Authors note:**

 **Hello there my lovelies :) Sorry for my slight delay in posting. I've not been able to post anything between being super busy and then my laptop was down and it just felt weird writing on anything else. None the less I prevailed for you, I wrote this chapter as fast as I could and for that I warn in advance for the likely mistakes you will find. If you see any mistakes just highlight the mistake for me in a review (please include the context because if you just tell me the word I'll probably spend years trying to find it) your help will be appreciated.**

 **Since my last chapter I've had a few reviews and I'm over the moon that some of you fabulous people have taken time out of your lives to not only read my story but to give me feedback - it makes it worth while so a big thank you to those reviewing/following.**

 **Let me know if you think I'm moving the story too slowly or maybe too fast, as a writer it's pretty tough at times to gage the flow of your story because we often enough have the idea mapped out in our head.**

 **Please do continue to follow and review, it really helps me, you have no idea how much it helps me. So again thanks and I hope you enjoy :)**

 **Ciao**

 **The Writer.**

 _CHAPTER 2: MEETINGS AT UNHOLY HOURS_

His eyes were trained on her, it was like he was under a spell for he couldn't take them away. She was so different but still the same in so many ways. Looking at her he knew she had grown more beautiful if that was possible maybe it was her confidence shining through. She still had that confident air around her, she was like Harvey that way - she could enter a room and she simply owned it, she understood control and power and didn't get power fever she just always knew how to have the upper hand. Yet looking in her eyes he didn't see the same girl, she didn't have that look in her eyes anymore, that depth in her eyes that was like a window to her soul. Harvey felt like he was trying to look through the window but the blinds were shut. Her eyes no longer sparkled the way he remembers, they didn't appear to be dancing with mischief, they didn't give off the feeling that she would be forever young the way they once had. It was heart wrenching to have her stand in front of him and yet know that the significant change he saw in her was all down to him.

"No Harvey, you don't have the right to call me that anymore." She said, she was cold and stoic as she said it. It was a shock to him, her voice sounded colder than he remembered, she didn't have any sound of the warm Caribbean anymore, it was almost as if Russia had rubbed off on her.

"Please Zaina I didn't mean to offe-" He didn't even get to finish his sentence.

"Natalia, it's Natalia." He almost flinched at her words.

"Natalia?" He was dumbfounded by her response.

"Yes Harvey, that's what you'll call me. Zaina was intimate, that meant something. You don't have the right to use that name with me anymore, not now, not after what you put me through." This conversation was uncomfortable for Natalia, she hadn't been this emotional and honest with anyone in a long time. It was odd for Harvey too, he was used to being calm and collected and having the upper hand but with Natalia he was a disarray of emotions and feelings, he was confused. Panicked he looked through the glass at Donna making sure she wasn't listening in to their conversation, he seen her face, he could tell she was trying to figure out what was happening

"Just sit down and calm down and we can talk." He wanted to keep her in his office, his heart was racing just hearing her voice. That's all he wanted was to hear her voice, it was music to his ears, it done something to him that he had never felt with anyone else, it was like she had awoken his heart that had been lying dormant for years.

"No we won't. I'm here for business, I'm supposed to overlook the Chmekovsky cases that you are working on, make sure everything is running smoothly. My boss isn't too certain on you." She stood her ground, she wasn't going to sit down and talk for her resolve against Harvey was limited, it always had been. He was like a drug to her and that was an issue. She craved everything about him, the touch of his skin, the smell of him, the sound of his voice even the feeling of his presence. It all put her on some sort of high and just like any drug the high is great but when he left her it was agony and she couldn't go through that again, she had to be selfish and think about self preservation.

"You're his lawyer? I thought he hired exclusively, thought it was a one man show over there in Russia." He was astounded that this was the lawyer that everyone spoke about, his shock almost offended her.

"One woman and he did hire exclusively, he hired me." She knew what he was trying to do, he was trying to ruffle her feathers and get her all fired up, he was trying to get her to stay longer and she remembers he thought it was funny when he annoyed her but he wasn't getting the satisfaction this time.

"Wow, you've really done well for yourself, I'm proud of you. Everyone speaks highly of you, some people think you are even better than me." His signature smirk came to life with this as he put his hands in his pockets and leant against his desk.

"Oh I am Harvey, don't you worry about that." Natalia knew she could win this game, he wanted to through her off her game and that wasn't going to happen.

"You sound certain about that, I wouldn't be so sure of yourself." It was a challenge, he was challenging her knowing she could never back down from a challenge. But she had changed. The 'Zaina' he had known would have jumped head first into the deep end of this challenge, she would have taken the bait but she had grown up. Natalia on the other hand already had her game plan and knew what she was going to do, she would let Harvey jump headfirst into the deep end of this one.

"I know you are challenging me, you don't need to do that. You'll learn soon enough. However I will give you a head start, I know Jessica doesn't like me and Donna doesn't trust me, you can go ahead and save them the time and tell them I'm not a dirty lawyer I'm just good, they can try and dig up dirt but they aren't going to get any." She had won this meeting, she hadn't come in today to do anything specifically, just to let them know she was here, give them a day or two to warm up to her, let her be part of the team.

" I'll be sure to let them know." For once in his life Harvey Specter wasn't sure what to say, he wanted to keep her here, he wanted to talk for hours upon hours with her the way the would years ago - he felt like it was his first steps out of rehab and he was going by the liquor store, temptation was in front of him and he knew that if he started drinking again he wouldn't be able to stop - he might be able to enjoy her now but what would he do when she left to go back to Russia, he wouldn't deal well with that.

"Goodbye Harvey." She smiled a smile that he remembered all too well but it hurt him because it was her hurt smile. The smile was beautiful but he could see that it didn't make her glow, it didn't reach the depth of her gorgeous brown eyes, it didn't make him feel warm inside, instead it made him feel sad. The words hit him like a truck, it was an overdue feel - these words scared him. When Natalia left he never got a goodbye, one day he went by her office after not being able to find her and was informed she wasn't working there anymore, he searched her usual spots and was finally told she had left, got some job in Europe and just left. Her departure had shocked him, he hadn't heard from her - not a single peep. He would have thought she would have at least said a goodbye or something but then again she clearly wanted a new start, moving to the other side of the world suggests that and so he didn't bother finding her, he figured she knew where he was and if she wanted to reach out to him she could. She never reached out and so it was clear to him that he no longer held the place in her life that he once had.

He watched and admired her as she walked out of his office, he could see people staring at her as she walked by, she hardly noticed the people staring. This always happened with her, she walked into a room and just held it in her hand unknowingly and her beauty held the attention of everyone that could see her, she didn't care for these things though and that is was Harvey had always admired most in her.

She stepped into the lift and looked back to his office, she gasped into herself when Harveys eyes pierced into her, he had been watching her all the way. She composed herself and bit the leg f her sunglasses as she cocked one of her eyebrows up and held his gaze, she wouldn't turn away. As the doors began to close she put on her sunglasses and gave him one last look before pulling her phone out, she had things that she had to do such as get a sleep, is long awaited and needed.

Walking into her hotel suite she let out a deep breathe and could just feel everything in her was tense, she started to undress and upon unzipping her skirt realised her trip to America had been unplanned and so she wasn't packed sufficiently for this trip. Zipping her skirt back up she slipped her shoes back on and headed out, this trip could be on Viktor, he owed her.

"To fifth avenue …?"

"Marcus, my name is Marcus m'am." The man said with an Irish accent.

"Well Marcus to fifth avenue please, oh and please just call me Natalia." She smiled at him through the mirror.

"Whatever you want … Natalia." He hesitated a bit before her name but smiled at her none the less.

"Ever the gentleman Marcus, so tell me a little about yourself. If you are to be driving me about you'll be seeing lots of me, we might swell at least get to know one and other." She wanted to at least feel that she had one friend.

"Well I'm from Ireland, you probably guessed that," his eyes creased as he smiled at her," I grew up in a pretty big family - five brothers and sisters, I'll tell you it was hectic with that."

"Oh trust me, I understand big families. I'm the youngest of eight, there is never a dull moment with that many people in the one house." /p  
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"The youngest ? Wow. I thought being the oldest would have been hard but never as hard as being the youngest. How did you deal with being the youngest ?"

"Being the youngest you become sneaky, that's all you can do." They both laughed, something about Marcus put Natalia at ease, she felt comfortable with him. It was nice for a change.

"Well Natalia, here we are at fifth avenue. Will I stop here or keep driving ?"

"No, no, here is perfectly fine. I'll give you a call when I'm finished, I'll be needing help with my bags if things go to plan. Thanks Marcus." She tipped him as she got out the car and got to her shopping, this would be fun. It had been a long time since she done something like this - just treated herself. She needed this, she deserved this. She spent so much time working for Viktor she had no private or personal life, it had been a long time since she had been on a real date. Sure she had went out with guys but it was all for work, getting information, flirting her way to some important stuff - she hadn't been selfish in a long time and she was ready to break that.

She had been in and out of shops all day buying skirts, dresses, blouses, jumpers, shoes, coats - everything. She had really splashed out and loved every minute of it. She sent Viktor a text: 'Thanks for that treat, Vik - I needed that. You really are too kind.' She knew this would get a response from him, she hadn't had a bonus in a while- this could cover it. She was going to meet Marcus to head back to the hotel when she seen a dress in one of the shop windows. It stopped her in her tracks, it looked like the one she has a picture of her mother in. Natalia never met her mother but she knew she was beautiful. She has one picture of her mother and in the picture her mother is with two women and they are standing on a beautiful balcony in Puerto-Rico. Her mother is holding her eldest brother Vincenzo, he is only a baby and they both look so happy. Natalia needed to buy this dress, even if it was just to keep and look at occasionally she needed to buy it. None the less today was not the day to buy it, she had to get back to Marcus. Looking at the dress one last time she walked away from it promising herself she would come back for it one day before she went back to Russia.

Looking at the time Natalia knew that she wanted to go to sleep now but it would ruin her sleeping pattern, she needed to starve her body of sleep for another couple hours. To do that she decided an impromptu gym session was in order. She put on her work out stuff and ran all the way to the gym her brother took her to, this relaxed her. The run helped calm her and when she got in the gym she headed straight for the punching bag once she was gloved up and just let loose.

"Well would you look at that the girl got a little fight in her." The irish accent made her smile.

"Marcus?!"

"Well what other irishmen do you know in the city?" The smirk was evident in his voice, she could hear it.

"Only you, you are my one and only." Laughing she turned round and hugged him

"So what brought you to this gym?" He didn't want to pry but he was intrigued as to why a woman of her high standards was in a gym in a rough area like this.

"This was the gym my brother used, he started bringing me here when I was about eighteen and rising as a fighter." Her revelation shocked Marcus, he hadn't picked her as a fighter, looking at her she looked sweet, innocent - incapable of fighting. He had obviously misjudged the small woman.

The two continued their work-out until closing, Marcus offered Natalia a ride back to the hotel but she said she'd prefer to run back, the run helped her loosen up after such a hard work out, it was her usual routine. Upon arriving back at the hotel it was just after eleven, she went for a shower and washed her hair and got read for bed. Her phone began to ring and she ignored it, whatever it was it could wait till the morning. Her phoned bleeped with emails and messages, she hated working across so many time zones. She shut her phone off and informed reception that she was likely to receive calls to the hotel as her phone was being turned off but under no circumstances was she to be disturbed. She wanted to sleep until seven tomorrow morning and so expected no calls until then.

Getting back to her room she felt drained and went to bed, it was a rest that was long overdue. Checking the clock she noted it had just gone by one and so she fell into her bed and shut her eyes, she was feeling comfort at last and beginning to drift off. Her mind was too tired to even buzz about with all her ideas and worries. Just as she was finding sleep the telephone began to ring. She was convinced it was the beginning of her dream but then it stopped and began again. Opening her eyes reluctantly she huffed, why would the reception be phoning her at this time

"Hello." She was curt, she didn't care if she offended, she had just been woken up from a much needed sleep.

"M-m-m-m…Miss Klit-Klitschko?" The woman on the other end of the line obviously picked up on her anger at being woken up.

"Well yes I am the only one in the suite, what is it?" Still Natalia did not lighten up.

"I have a Mike Ross here at the desk wanting to speak to you."

"A who ?" Was that name supposed to mean something to Natalia? She could muffling on the other end of the line, the woman was giving this 'Mike Ross' a telling off, it earned a chuckle from Natalia.

"He is from Pearson Specter, he said Harvey sent him."

The name made her straighten up, "Fine, send him up. If this is a waste of time it will be your job on the line for waking me up at this unholy hour." She slammed the phone down and straightened out her bed covers. Had she been more awake she would probably have cared a little that she looked horrific with her lack of sleep and the fact she wasn't in her regular silky nightdress but given her lack of nightwear was in a pair of running shorts and a crop top.

Mike was beyond petrified heading up to the lawyers suite at this time, he didn't want to but Harvey was adamant that he deliver the files to her. Mike had pointed out that Harvey had already met her he should go instead of some stranger but he was very much against it, almost frantically against it - that was very unlike Harvey. Thus Mike found himself in an elevator in one of the fanciest hotels in the city at one in the morning to a woman he had never met before but was somehow terrified of her. He knew it was going to be weird, he was going to come across some middle-aged woman in her overpriced pyjamas, she would probably have on a face mask on or something, thats what women that age done- tried to prevent their age. He was nervous, he was intruding in on this woman at this god awful hour but then again he had hassled the receptionist to phone up demanding it was urgent.

He got out of the elevator and walked along to the hall and came to the door, it was the only door in site, this must be it. Taking a deep breathe he chapped the door and smoothed his tie. This was to be an education experience for him, he was going to work with one of the best lawyers in the business, he should be excited about this not scared. The door clicked open and he was stunned at the sight in front of him. The woman in front of him must of been about the same age as him, she was stunning. She was short, it was cute, she looked like she might have been pushing five-one, she was what all men dreamed of for a woman, perfect hourglass figure. Her hair was long and dark , matching her eyes, it all tied in with her olive complexion. He thought she was russian yet she looked so latin, it make no sense to him.

"Well can I help you or did you just stop be from going to sleep because Harvey thought it would be funny, I swear to God that man is a selfish son of a bitch." Her accent was American, he wasn't expecting that, and she sounded like she knew Harvey.

"You know Harvey ?" He didn't mean to ask but he did.

"When two lawyers have egos as big as ours there is no way we don't know one and other."

"Oh, ok. Well I have some files for you." He was trying to pull them out of his bag but it wasn't going all too smoothly, he started fumbling them and he was getting nervous and his palms were begging to sweat, he was beginning to feel embarrassed.

Natalia picked up on his nerves, she felt bad for him- he had obviously heard how bitch she was over the phone and was feeling her bad mood. She knew it wasn't his fault, orders are orders."Those files look pretty important, why don't you come in and talk me through them, I'll pour you a drink while you tell me all about them."


	4. CHAPTER 3: BROTHERS AND DROWNING

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

 **Hi guys :) Long time no see eh ?**

 **I'd like to give a big thank you to the amazing people who have taken the time to read and review my work, it has been humbling. I have taken into consideration everything everyone has said - the stuff you were all asking for was going to be written in at a later date but I thought "** _I shall give the people what they want !"_ **\- Seriously though I asked for your critiques and you gave me them so I tried to subtly write them in without being to drastic in my changes etc.**

 **I really, really appreciate you guys reading this it is really amazing the response I've had. I read and thing about every single review and how I can make it work so as always please enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think. I'm writing this for you so I want you to enjoy it :)**

 **Thank you 3**

 **The Writer.**

 _CHAPTER 3: BROTHERS AND DROWNING_

Mike was so confused, he felt like he was at high school. Here he was in a room with this stunning woman; he couldn't tell if she was as beautiful as she seemed or if she only seemed like such a gem because he had imagined an old hag of a woman. He wasn't sure if he was in awe of her presence or in awe of the way he could feel his heart speeding up and his palms getting sweaty over her because she was so beautiful. If Rachel could see him now she wouldn't be pleased.

Sitting awkwardly at a huge wooden table he watched as Natalia poured them both a drink and padded over to the table, watching her hips sway over to the table he immediately understood what the fuss had been about earlier on, it had obviously been Natalia in the office. He had assumed it had been some hot client but he just knew the talk had to have been all about Natalia.

"So these files, talk me through them I'm sure they are pretty confusing and important." She took a sip and looked him in the eye as she spoke. Her sheer dominance in the one look unnerved him, it was intimidating but he could tell she wasn't all bad - she was trying to put him at ease by asking for his help and for him to 'talk her through them', Mike knew she could skim and scan and probably know more than he did and for that he admired her.

As she sat down next to Mike he slid the first document over to her, she barley glanced at it for thirty seconds and then looked up at him. Her brows were furrowed and her lips parted in a small pout, he could see she was clearly confused. For some odd reason that panicked him, why is she confused - had Mike done something wrong

"What did Harvey say when he told you to deliver these files to me ? Did he specify why ?" Natalia knew Harvey and she knew he was sending a message but it was the small hours of the morning and her body was craving sleep so instead of figuring it out she would take a more direct approach.

"Something about you being part of the team now so he wanted your view on it, he said if you need any help I am to assist. I am his associate but for this case I am your associate." She was beginning to think this guy had no other look apart from confused, how did he even get into Harvard if all he done was be confused.

If she didn't know Harvey personally she would say he was testing her: he would have already thought up of a more than perfect course of action and would want to see if her idea would reach his standards. However she did know him personally and that drew confusion into the equation for her. Was he testing her the way he would any other lawyer or was he trying to give her a step up into the good graces of Jessica - showcase her ability at single handedly helping the firm, show jessica that she was a team player when need be. She knew that if Jessica didn't like or trust her as a lawyer then her job would be ten times harder, jessica would come up against everything she done and she would be very suspicious of her.

"Ok well let's make me part of the team." She smiled at him, either way she was going to need to do this to stay in good graces with someone may it be Harvey, Jessica or Mike - it is always better having at least someone to help you.

"Uhm yea sure." Mike was taken aback by her enthusiasm and the warm smile she gave him - stunned a little. However above all of that Natalia didn't miss him looking at his watch, she sighed into herself, she knew what she had to do.

"Why don't you go home Mike?" Her voice was soft as she said this and still he looked up at her like a deer in the headlights.

"What? Why?" The panic shot through him. Had he done something wrong ? If she was pissed off with she would tell Harvey and in turn Harvey would be pissed off with him. Mike was usually a confident guy but around this woman he felt completely petrified, something about her held back and calm demeanour scared him to death - just by her walk he knew she wasn't someone to mess with

"Go home and get some rest. I'll look through the files tonight and I'll gather some notes on them. You can help me in the morning, get a sleep. You'll work better with a charged battery. Trust me on it." Again she had amazed Mike. She was letting him slack, he was the associate - he was supposed to pull the all-nighter for her to sit in the office tomorrow and dismiss most of his findings. He was supposed to do the groundwork.

"Oh no really I don't mind. I'm the associate, I'm supposed to be doing the ground work - I'll take the files home and compile notes on them and we can go through it together in the office tomorrow." He began to collect the many sheets of paper together when Natalia stopped him.

"Mike," she glanced his way looking to make sure she had got his name right, " You arrived at my hotel at one in the morning, I doubt you were sitting talking about nothing with Harvey till that time. You've clearly had a long day, rest and recharge. I'm an exclusive lawyer I'm used to doing all-nighters that's what I'm paid to do so please let me earn my money." She looked him dead in the eye, he nodded and got up, he was silent.

She walked him to the door and wished him a safe journey home, as he he walked down the corridor she watched him and knew she liked him. He was hard working, she could tell but then again to be an associate for Harvey she knew you couldn't be a slacker.

So once again she found herself in a random hotel room, in a random city drinking a bottle overly expensive mall whiskey as she poured over file after file feeling like she wasn't getting anywhere. The clock had just gone by four and she was still reading and taking notes and forming theories and accusations but still none of them got the client off the hook.

It was beginning to piss her off this case was too easy to see that Harvey's client was guilty as all of the evidence pointed to him - if this was the case why was he taking this client on ? Pulling out her laptop she knew it was time to start snooping, she had to understand who this client was and why Harvey the best closer in the city was sitting with a client who was looking at murder charges what was the draw to this case. There had to be some clause or leverage that made Harvey take this case because although Harvey was a selfish son of a bitch he managed to be the kindest person ever at the same time so she knew that he had to have personal links in this case; if he never he wouldn't even be touching it. Something about this case was drawing her in and she had to find out what it was.

Nothing. That is what she had found, after an hour of slouching over her laptop she had found nothing. Harvey had no connections what so ever to this person, this didn't add up. It was just past five and she would be getting up in two hours, she needed to get some sleep before she burned herself out. Just as she was closing the web pages on her laptop she came across the birth certificate for the client and her eyes widened as she read it, 'Alejandro Jordi Pearson Gomez'. The link wasn't Harvey, it was Jessica - the man must have been a relation or something.

Another twenty minutes of snooping produced that Jessica's father was the godfather to Alejandro and had covered all of Alejandro's medical and schooling expenses. Upon seeing on the birth certificate that there was no father Natalia began to form theories but these theories were far too grande to simply just bat about. She had to find sufficient evidence before she questioned or implied anything. The client had a record, nothing overly criminal just some wild nights as a teen but when Natalia seen the picture she couldn't believe it. She had to take a minute rub her eyes and look again, she was tired maybe she was just seeing what she wanted to see. She compared pictures of Jessica and Alejandro, the resemblance was uncanny. Natalia couldn't believe her eyes when she seen the picture of Alejandro, it was like looking at the boy version of jessica.

How was she supposed to go to sleep after discovering that? That was big news, bigger than she had anticipated. Her mind was wide awake as it buzzed about but she knew she couldn't do anything until she spoke to jessica, it didn't take a genius to figure this out and sure enough if this case ended up in the press her name would be dragged through the dirt. Natalia knew in this situation she had to speak to jessica, usually she would stay quiet and use this as leverage but Natalia needed to be on the team and so she needed to show loyalty to jessica. Given that Harvey had so willingly handed the case to Natalia she doubted he had picked up on the relation, if he had known he wouldn't have let Natalia anywhere near the case.

Clearing up the files she began to again feel how truly tired she was, the second her body made contact with her bed she was out cold and dreaming.

Dreams tended to be insignificant but this one wasn't, it had harvey and her and it was heart wrenching - it was like she was feeling the pain of heartbreak all over again. He walked into the restaurant and it was then she knew that he was ending things, she could see it on his face he didn't need to hide it from her. She knew him well enough that one look at him and she knew, that's all it took, she liked that about their relationship it encouraged honesty between them and so it meant they trusted one and other and in circumstances like that their relationship flourished. It had all been going so well until of course Harvey's ex was back on the scene: it had made Natalia uneasy from the beginning given she knew all about their history - it had been an on-off relationship through Harvard and whenever they came across one and other through work they would hook up. She wasn't stupid, she knew something about the woman drew Harvey in and had him going back, Harvey didn't do anything he didn't want to do and so she knew he liked something about the woman.

She was sitting in an over priced dress that her friend Kim and the shop assistant had picked out and talked her into buying, for once she felt sexy by herself. Usually Harvey would appear and convince her that she looked amazing but for once she was excited for him to see her, she wanted to take his breath away. She wanted the last supper, something beautiful to remember. She sat in the most sought after table in the most expensive restaurant in the city, it was quiet and secluded - so romantic. She checked her mirror and smiled to herself she looked good. Her dress was figure hugging, it was sleeveless and plunged at her chest and met a black band wrapping round her waist the flowed into the skirt of the dress that clung to her like a second skin. There was a slit that snaked up her legs showcasing her tan, it made her feel like a woman who could seduce her man. She had been having a particularly good hair day so she had left it down and natural, she had been looking forward to their meal. She wanted to enjoy the night and then see where things went but when he walked through the door she knew, she knew they were over. She knew what he had done, he didn't need to tell her.

He sat down and she couldn't bring herself to look at him, so she stared at the bottle of water she had ordered up. He reached his hand out to hers and instinctively she pulled her hand back, she clasped her hands on her lap. Suddenly she wasn't feel sexy and independent, she didn't feel safe that she could confide. She eyed Harvey as if she was a wild animal- captured - and he was the man sent to tame it.

"Can we talk?" His wary tone was obvious but Natalia wasn't readying for a fight, she loved him too much for that.

"I don't think we need to do that." She glanced and held his eyes for a moment but quickly looked away, hurting too much.

"Please we have things we need to talk about, I need to explain." He was bargaining with her.

"We have nothing to talk about. You don't need to explain, I understand." Natalia was totally resigned, her heart was breaking and falling apart with every second that went by.

"You understand ? What do you understand ?" Still he was cautious, he knew how angry she could be, he was waiting for the outburst.

"I understand you made a decision, a life choice and I'm not part of that." In the one look he seen in her eyes how hurt she was, her eyes told him everything she never would.

"How do you know?" He was shocked and feeling a little winded looking at her eyes, he forgot how young she was.

"Because I love you Harvey." With that she got up out of her seat, she had to leave before she lost her resolve. Harvey grabbed her wrist, he had to let her go, this was their break up. You don't break up with someone and continue to have dinner with them.

The words were out of his mouth before he even realised he had said them ,"Stay a little longer." He didn't know she would say to that but what she said shocked him to the core

"I can't. Right now I'm in the middle of the ocean and I can't swim so if I don't get out now I'll drown and you won't be there to save me, will you?"

"He hadn't anticipated her to be so calm but yet so honest, he knew what she was asking. She was asking him if he could change his mind but he couldn't change it back - he had already broken her heart ,"No I won't."

She seen him avert his gaze but it only made her eyes burn into him more passionately,"This is the end Harvey." It had been a mere whisper that had it been spoken outside he might not have heard it as the wind would have carried it away from him. But it wasn't outside, he didn't have a crowd and so as she walked away he didn't even attempt to hide his pain.

Then it was seven and Natalia was rolling out of bed to go see Jessica.


	5. Chapter 4: NO LONGER IN THE CARIBBEAN

**Authors Note:**

 **Long time no see eh? I know, I know I have basically dropped off the side of the earth never to be seen again but alas I am back. Now I apologise in advance as I doubt this chapter will be as riveting as you might have hoped. However, I hope to have achieved some more character development in this - to aid in the understanding of the character dynamics.**

 **As always, I love and appreciate every review - hopefully I can keep this going.**

 **The Writer**

 **Ps: A big thank you to msgemgem for letting me know the chapter had been uploaded wrong!**

* * *

 _CHAPTER 4 : NO LONGER IN THE CARIBBEAN_

Calmly stepping into the elevator Natalia sipped at her piping hot coffee. On the outside she looked to be the epitome of a high flying international fixer; her exterior was a vast contrast to her interior. Inside she was suffering a civil war between her heart and her heart begged that instead of taking her discovery to Jessica she head to Harvey instead and inform him of her findings. She owed it to him. That is exactly where her brain disagreed. She owed him nothing - he did not build her career; plus, she needs something to build a bridge and this would be just it. A stretch of loyalty. Would Jessica see it like that? The woman was on the defensive, maybe her act of unification would be seen as blackmail, an act of war. However, before Natalia could weigh up her arguments and make a decision she was slamming the files and research down before Harvey.

"So he delivered them?

"Yes he did, he woke me up. The woman working the desk can't even look me in the eye now because of what I said when she phoned my room at one in the morning." She wanted to let him know she wasn't happy.

"I didn't think you would be sleeping. The Zaina I know hardly slept. She would have been sitting by a piano at one in the morning as she contemplates the big questions in her mind as she plays a melody and writes lyrics-" He was reminiscing, Natalia was well aware. She remembered.

"Knew." She could not let herself open up.

"What?" Her voice pulled him out of his bubble and so his shadow of a smile faded back into the darkness and depths of his eyes.

"You said the Zaina you know. Know would suggest you still know her. She would need to still exist for that. She died long ago. So you can forget that name." She spoke in points, not stretching any of her sentences.

"Zai- Natalia...Please." He was grasping at words, not sure of what to say. He had never imagined she would be like this, this was not how he remembered her. Again his heart hurt because he knew it was him that had crushed Zaina, it was him that had left her to drown.

"I don't want to hear it. I just want to work?" She didn't raise her voice to ask the question, it was more in her eyes. The way she looked at him. She held her breath as she waited for his response, every second she heard his voice her wall of resolution crumbled a little more.

"Ok, let's work." Resigned was the only word that could describe Harvey in that moment. He hadn't expected Zaina to fondly embrace him and beg to be with him but he had expected it to be Zaina. Warm Zaina who loved music and photographs; who carried the warmth of the Caribbean with her everywhere she went. Instead he met Natalia a woman who was a cold survivor of Russia.

* * *

Donna watched warily as the strange woman made herself a centrepiece in Harvey's office. She couldn't understand it all. Harvey had never ever mentioned knowing a Natalia and there was no denying that the two lawyers knew one and other. Watching the facial expressions that Harvey exhibited was like hearing a foreign language that she couldn't understand. She was supposed to know everything, how could she not know who this woman was. How could she not read Harvey and know what was all going on. It unnerved Donna, she had been totally blind sided when Harvey turned the autocom off on his office phone but now she felt totally blind.

It was eating her alive. Natalia Klitschko was a ghost, her name didn't even pop up as a graduate for any university in America. How could someone drop off the grid like that, that's what Donna didn't like. She understood covering your tracks and protecting yourself but she couldn't understand making yourself a ghost. Natalia had to be hiding. What was she hiding from though. Before she could consider the question for a moment longer Rachel appeared at her desk, "I come with information to swap in exchange for your information." Rachel had piqued the curious womans interest.

"Information? What information do you have that I need?" Hardly glancing from the screen as she typed donna cocked one eyebrow up in questionable defiance to Rachel.

With a smug smile Rachel tucked her hair behind her ear and leaned forward, "Well last night Harvey sent Mike to drop some files off for Natalia so Mike met her. He thought she was actually quite nice, seems like she knows Harvey though. Oh but it gets better, Mike has been told that he has to act as her associate for the duration of her stay so I should be able to find out more," Donna done nothing more than nod in agreement to everything Rachel was saying, "So what do you have on her?

"Who me?" Feigning innocence Donna looked up wide eyed then quickly began to busy herself, "Not much more than you as of yet." She didn't want to admit it because it was like admitting defeat and that would never be one of her traits.

Rachel creased her brow and leaned in further to listen to the red-head, "What do you mean 'not much more than you as of yet'? You are Donna. What is your more?" Rachel could hear her voice rising in octaves as her heartbeat was rising too. She didn't like that Donna didn't have the life story of this new and strange hot shot lawyer. Donna could see the panic arising in Rachel, before she could cause a scene and make a fool of herself she grabbed the young womans arm and ushered to the copying room.

The two women marched quickly through the office avoiding any talk with anyone, distractions were not needed at this moment in time. Launching themselves into the copying room they both scoped the place out, throwing out some first year associate in the process. Donna locked the door and then started copying files and looked expectantly at Rachel as she rested her back against the machine as it went to work, "Well?"

"Well what?" Rachel fired back, not being harsh but the tension was visible in her tone.

"Your very well near office performance? Your voice was so high it was close to entering the realm of dolphins and I have no idea why, please do enlighten me. Usually I would know but since Miss Russia has arrived I've lost my touch." Huffing and crossing her arms waiting for the paralegals response.

"It is Miss Russia. I met her and God she was so nice to me then Mike meets her and he hasn't stopped talking about how amazing she is. All he done before meeting her was talk about the cases she worked on in Europe, I couldn't even tell him I had met her because of my insecurities. Then he comes home and says he literally dropped the files off; gave her a brief summary and then she told him to go home and get some sleep because she wouldn't mind doing the leg work and an all nighter. She's amazing!" Throwing her hands up in the air she let out a long and tense 'agh'. She feared that this young successful woman would become a problem for her. Her insecurities were beginning to nest in her head and it wouldn't be long before they decided to hatch.

Admittedly it surprised Donna to hear that Natalia had dismissed Mike and told him to go home. She had assumed someone so young in such a successful position would prove to be a very horrible and cruel person who would stand on all the 'little people' at every chance. It seemed the longer Miss Russia stayed the worse Donna got at her ability of being Donna, "Rachel calm down. Mike adores you, nobody - not even Miss Russia - can come between that. Plus she told him to go home, don't you think if she had any plans to seduce him then last night would have been a prime time to begin?"

The obvious logic made Rachel feel stupid, a little immature if anything. It was just this Natalia was everything Harvey was in an incredibly beautiful and sexy woman. Mike adored Harvey; she was aware that Milke adored her but seeing Natalia was like taking the best bits of Harvey and making them even better in a female body. How could Mike ever resist her if she chose to try and seduce him, "I suppose…"

* * *

Riding the lift had always been one of Mike's pet peeves; especially when it was proving to be a busy one where he felt that it stopped at nearly every floor when all he wanted to do was get home and see rachel. It had been an excruciatingly long day, yet it was still relatively early. Although the office was beginning to quieten down at seven Mike was one of the first to leave after Natalia had informed him that he deserved to go home and relax after working relentlessly for her. It had been boring and never ending. He was looking forward to working with Natalia on the case he had delivered last night- he was ready to put in all the hard graft. Yet what he got stuck doing was reading through and analysing books of some companies he had never heard of; didn't care about and didn't know. All he had been told to do was to find patterns in them and compare to see if anything matched up, it was so boring yet so tiring. Mike had set himself up for a day full of intrigue and revelations - not an entire day of being treated like some accountant.

Finally reaching the end of his lift journey he stepped out and left the building, he was graced with the presence of heavy droplets of ice cold rain hitting everything in their path on their journey to the ground. He cursed the cold, wet weather - his day seemed to just get worse.

Mike wasn't ostentatious by any meaning of the word, it was just a matter of he had looked forward to working with Natalia on a case today and got blindsided with all the work whilst he watched Harvey showboat to try and impress the woman. Harvey had clearly seen her and decided he wanted a chance with her which obviously, did not bother Mike - what annoyed Mike was that Harvey was doing it on his time. Mike didn't know how long before he would finally get caught out with his secret and so he wanted to spend every present moment making a difference; clearly he couldn't mention this to Natalia but Harvey surely would understand.

Quickly being pulled out of his thought as a yellow cab honked its horn whilst the driver crudely gestured at Mike he checked his watch and knew that the new thai place Rachel had been harping on about was just about to open. His day might have sucked but at least he could help hers better.

* * *

Rachel was heading out of the office but couldn't find Mike, guessing he would be slaving away with Natalia she decided to hunt the woman down so she could free Mike and take him home and remind him how much she loved him - sometimes when she felt insecure she liked to throw a little extra passion in amongst her and Mike. Although, Donna had convinced her she was being silly she began to feel the seed of doubt grow some new roots when she realised the only place left for her to look was the filing and copying room.

Seeing the door shut put her on edge. The office was empty - even Jessica was gone. Why was the door shut? It was a question Rachel obviously knew the answer to. The only time that door was shut was when nobody was in it or two people were in and were looking for a bit of privacy - she had on numerous occasions been in that exact scenario with Mike. What if he now was in that scenario with Natalia. Unsure on if her fear of him having an affair was stemming from how their relationship started or the fact that she had once been the other woman in affair with a married man. Regardless of that before she knew it she had her ear firmly against the door and one hand on the handle.

Silence. The loudest thing was her heart beat. Instinct kicked in and she found herself bursting in through the door, not really sure what she was expecting to find but knowing what she found was not expected. Natalia was quietly singing something soft and sweet in russian as she was copying files and reading through a document in her hand. Rachel had hardly taken a breath in the room and Natalia already had her eyes trained on her - Rachel didn't remember her being so intimidating.

"Sorry I didn't expect you to be copying anything." Cringing inwards Rachel wanted the floor to swallow her the second the words left her mouth.

Instantaneously the other womans face softened, her features suddenly transformed from pristine perfection which clearly mirrored the environment she had been in but to warm and inviting - suddenly the flaws in her were noticeable: a complexion which was meant to be tanned but hadn't seen the sun it needed; the whisper of a squint in her right eye; her big eyes being framed by eyebrows that fashion would say aren't thick enough; legs which were short and appeared to have no thigh gap; fingers that were thin and long; an ear that curled in on itself ever so slightly - although Rachel had now picked up on all these apparent 'flaws' by noticing them she felt it made her look all the more beautiful.

Arching an eyebrow up Natalia poked fun at the beautiful woman in front of her.

"No, well yes I did. It's just what I mean is I was looking for-"

"You were looking for Mike; you seen the office was quiet and the door was shut and assumed the worse; not sure why you assumed the worse you ended up lurking about and couldn't help but burst in - just in the off chance you discovered something however, what that something would be you weren't sure of."/

"Feeling like she was setting a new record for embarrassing herself in consecutive minutes Rachel went rather hot and fumbled about trying to find words to say but she couldn't for the life of her get a decent train of thought, in the end all she managed was a simple, "Sorry."

"Rachel don't apologise to me, you have nothing to apologise for. You haven't offended me, haven't hurt me - you simply walked into the same room as me. Don't ever apologise for nothing." The conviction in Natalias words smelled of inspiration - Rachel was feeling bad for ever thinking badly of the woman.

"Uhm thanks Natalia. I just don't want you to think I'm crazy or insecure. I would really hate for this to be your first impression of me because I'm not usually like this - I don't know where this came from." Rachel couldn't not feel apologetic, if somebody had barged in and suggested such things to her she would not be as calm or forgiving as the woman in front of her.

"Like I said don't be sorry. You don't know me, you don't know what to expect from me or what my motives are. I'll tell you now though I am strictly work - business and pleasure are not my forte I learned that years ago. As for your Mike I expect he is home, I let him go at seven." Natalia wanted Rachel to know she would never cross that line - she understands that is hard to trust and would never dare try and tear another woman down that way; she knows how hard it is to build yourself back up - nearly impossible.

"This really means alot to me, really. Thank you for being so understanding. Mike did mention you were pretty great." The slender brunette smiled as she left the copying room and made her way to the lift, desperate to get home. As the lift doors opened the one and only Harvey Specter walked out carrying numerous paper bags of what smelled like delicious food.

"Rachel? I didn't realise you were staying late tonight, Mike left nearly an hour ago." Harvey said sneaking in a sly glance at his watch.

"Yeah I know. Time got away from me and before I knew it the office was empty - apart from Natalia but you already knew that didn't you?" Smiling faintly she gestured towards the the bags.

"Yeah, I left a while ago but I knew she'd stay on and figured she'd forget to have something to eat or else work through the hunger." Harvey was rambling almost, he wouldn't usually talk to Rachel this much about somebody but when it came to Zaina he just loved talking about her.

"Oh you know her?" Donna hadn't mentioned this.

"Yeah, we've known one and other for years, we go way back."

Rachel caught the fleeting look that crossed Harveys face but disappeared just as quickly as it appeared. It was a mix: melancholy, sad, happy - loving maybe, "Well I'll leave you too to your food then, it smells good. Good night Harvey." With that Rachel walked into the left and headed for home, her mind working overtime to figure out why Donna hadn't mentioned this; she must have know.

But what if Donna didn't?


End file.
